Artemis Fowl: The Parallel Universe
by Bakerstreet Mischief
Summary: Artemis Fowl's new adventure is a race against time and a battle through space. Artemis gets stuck in an alter-universe where anything can happen, even friendship between Mud Men and the People. Will he stay there for good and leave his friends and family behind? It's his choice.
1. Introduction

**INTRODUCTION**

It has been a year since Artemis' resurrection. If you could call that a resurrection – what with the involvement of technology that is way past the intellectual ability of humans. Cloning. As far as fairy technological history is concerned, Artemis is the first ever successful attempt at cloning. Opal Koboi managed to do it once, but her clone, Nopal, was not much of a breakthrough. Sure, it was a splitting image of the real Opal, but it never had the diabolical attributes of the deranged pixie. In fact, it didn't have any spirit at all. It was like a zombie, an empty shell. Also her motor skills are not fully developed, rendering her bedridden, utterly useless. But Artemis Fowl Jr., a genius, a mastermind, a billionaire, and most of all, a teenager, was able to see past the imperfections of Nopal, construct an idea under the usual saving-the-world pressure, and had himself cloned, shortly after his death. Oh yes, the Artemis that we have always known and loved (but sometimes hated) managed to escape death. The one and only Artemis Fowl resides in his fully functional clone with 6 toes on his left foot. And now he's back for a new groundbreaking idea.


	2. Of Parallel Universes and Algorithms

**CHAPTER 1 – OF PARALLEL UNIVERSES AND ALGORITHMS**

Sixteen year-old Artemis was sitting on the plush vintage leather couch in the Fowl Manor sitting room, having tea with the twins, Beckett and Myles.

"Now now, Beckett. We don't slurp our tea, not unless we're drinking tea with our dear old Uncle Barnaby who practically loves ancient Chinese beliefs," Artemis said, his bright blue eyes lingering on each of the twins' faces. "We also don't use the tea cups to check our brother's reflexes," he sighed as Beckett emptied his cup with one big slurp and used it to tap Myles' knee, much like a doctor would during physical exams.

"All done, Arty!" Beckett beamed. "May I please see Wormy now?"

"Yes, Artemis! We're rather fascinated by the existence of an extra digit on your left foot ," Myles seconded. The twins set down their fine china on the glass coffee table. Very much like his older brother, Myles had the telltale signs of being a genius.

Sensing the signs of defeat, Artemis raised his palms up. "Alright then. But you won't be able to see Wormy again unless you take our tea time seriously. Is that clear, boys?"

"Aye aye, Arty!" The twins plopped down on the carpeted floor, looking positively eager about seeing Wormy. Calling Artemis' extra toe Wormy was Beckett's idea. He insisted that one day, he was going to grow a Wormy of his own.

Artemis chuckled as he saw the boys' eyes widen as he slowly removed his left loafer.

"Cool!" Beckett blurted out.

"Astounding, absolutely magnificent!" Myles proclaimed.

"If you ask me, I'd say it's disgusting."

Artemis turned around and smiled.

A three-foot figure was framed in the doorway, hints of auburn and hazel flashing as the sun beamed brightly overhead. It was around noon, and Holly Short was in Fowl Manor for the umpteenth time.

Her first visit to the manor was done against her will – she was kidnapped. But for the past few years, she was in the manor on a regular basis, either to visit her friends or rendezvous there on a mission to save the world.

"Disgusting is quite a hurtful word, Holly," Artemis said, rising up to greet his friend. "But I would digress. How are you?" he gave her a brief hug and looked at the positively beaming face of the elf.

"Oh you know, quite a few roundup jobs, what with the almost-Armageddon," she said, shrugging. "Atlantean prisoners are everywhere! Oh and would you mind if No.1 entered? He still hasn't gotten over the fact that the house invitation rule has been removed by Qwan." She lowered her voice into a whisper, "Just make him think that he's invited."

Artemis chuckled yet again. "You may come in, No. 1."

"Thank heavens you finally invited me in," the little demon said, waddling into the sitting room. "I thought you'd leave me out there to die of heat!"

'Uncle 1!" Beckett and Myles cried out, rushing towards No. 1 with surprising speed.

It was now No. 1's turn to chuckle. "Hey, I'm getting kind of used to being called Uncle 1. It kinda feels like being an influential part of the growth of two human toddlers."

"Just don't put any false ideas into the kids' minds, though," Holly said, lightly punching No. 1's arm.

"Oh I won't be doing that," No. 1 said, walking towards Artemis and Holly while the twins were clinging to both his legs. "Not when Artemis has something so important for me to do so as to pull me out on vacation to work with him."

"And I thought we were just here to visit," sighed Holly. "What have you got for us, genius?"

"Myles, Beckett, why don't you go check up on Juliet and the jet? Beckett, you might find something interesting in one of the compartments. Oh and Myles, you may want to examine the hydraulic doors the men just installed. You can improve them if you want."

"Thanks, Arty!" the boys said in unison, walking hand in hand towards the shed where the Fowls kept their personal jet.

Holly's eyes followed them as they made their exit – Beckett slightly stumbly, while Myles was as stiff as a businessman. "They grow up so fast." She shifted her attention towards the Artemis who stood up to his full height, his eyes gleaming with that familiar light when he has something dangerous in mind. "Getting to the point, why did you bring us here Artemis?"

Artemis gave them an enigmatic smile. "We're here for some algorithms."

_Clippity cloppity clop_

_Foaly's at the top_

_Clippity cloppity clop_

_Arty's gonna drop_

Holly laughed out loud. The catchy jingle was coming from Artemis' Rolex wristwatch/communicator/high-powered laser gun. Roll 'em up together, and you'd get what Artemis would like to call an –

"ACE. That's what it's called. It is an Automatic Communications Electrode, thus the name ACE," he said, showing them the glass of the watch, but instead of telling time, it showed Foaly's face on it, and underneath the picture was the word _Calling_. "You see, it not only tells time, it can also detect and tap into desired wavelengths from satellite beams, and can therefore be a communicator. It's also a high-powered laser," he said with much enthusiasm, only to be greeted by the baffled faces of Holly and No. 1. Seeing as his audience was not as impressed as he hoped, he cleared his throat, "Let's proceed to my office, shall we?"

Much with whining and groaning, Holly and No. 1 followed Artemis' wake, up the winding wooden staircase, towards Artemis' office. But as much as they would like to relax after all their work with the LEP, Holly and No. 1 could not possibly deny that they were thrilled to go on another adventure with their dear friend, Artemis.

Upon entering the office, Holly wolf-whistled. Well, anyone who would enter the room would probably do the same. It was not just any room, it was a hub full of technology, both human and fairy. Artemis had a central computer station with a dozen or more computers connected to a single powerful mainframe. The station took up most of the space at the center of the office. The walls were hidden from view by an assortment of whirring machines. No matter, the room that looked like a very high-tech space station still had a welcoming glow, homey even. It was rather much like its owner, very impressive and mechanical if you look at it, but once you have settled down and accepted all the clickety clackety and whirs, you can find yourself safe and satisfied. That's how it is for Holly and Artemis' other friends.

Speaking of other friends, one of them was on the screen of one of the computers at the station. It was Foaly, the centaur.

"Well that took you long enough," Foaly said with the usual joking impatience. "By the time you answered my call, Mulch would have chewed his way halfway through the world!" Mulch, by the way, is another friend. A flatulent and incredibly big mouthed dwarf friend.

Holly and No. 1 went up to the station, the two of them on each of Artemis' sides. "Speaking of Mulch, how is the little man?" asked Holly.

Foaly snorted on the screen. "Oh you know, being all friendly with the LEP, now that he is the world renowned Troll Rider." Another snort. "Big deal," Foaly added with the signature pout on his lips.

"Oh, it's nothing to be sad about, Foaly," No. 1 said, in an attempt to console the centaur. "I'm sure he still has time for us after being the big shot guy for once."

"It's not like that!" Foaly said, looking aghast on the screen.

Holly laughed. "Don't bother hiding it from us, Foaly. We know you two have been doing some bonding during office hours," she said with a wink.

Foaly spluttered for moment, fuming. "Anyway," he said, cutting to the point, "little Arty here has asked me to do a job for him, much like he asked the two of you."

All eyes were now on Artemis. The boy genius now sensed that everyone had settled down, and that now would be a good time start the briefing.

"Ah, yes, the algorithms. Have you worked them out yet?" he asked the centaur.

"Yes, I have, and you better thank me Mud Boy. Those problems were quite a piece of work, but nothing that my brain can't handle," he tapped his noggin.

"Yes, quite," Artemis said, his thoughts not quite focused.

"If you called us here for algorithms, then I don't think you would need No. 1 and me," Holly said, interfering Artemis' reverie.

Artemis looked her straight in the eye and said, "As matter of fact, Holly, you are the key to the algorithms." He stood up, opened a file labelled "Mission" on the computer next to Foaly's . "You see, it's not about math, it's about magic." He smirked.

When nobody spoke, Artemis continued. "When I died, I became a spirit. When I was a spirit, I had all my senses, as if my body was fully functional and alive, but I could not interact with the physical world. I searched the database in my brain for any theory that can explain this, and I found it. I have completely forgotten about my research on parallel universes for quite a while now, but being a spirit encouraged me to do it again."

He now started to pace back and forth, linking all the parts together. "You see, I was there, yet I am not. I was in the right time, and the right place, but somehow I was not." He raised a finger in midair, as if discovering something. "Then I figured it out. It has never been a matter of time and place, it was a matter of which universe I was in.

Parallel universes are not called parallel for nothing. If we attempt to recreate them on a three-dimensional scale, you would actually see that they are parallel, with the "space" between them being limbo. I have been to limbo once with you, and have therefore confirmed its existence.

Limbo is not merely a void in the space-time continuum; it is a means of transportation from one universe to another. In the time being that I was a spirit, I was in two universes at one time, a third in the physical, another in limbo, and the remaining third in another universe. If my theory is correct, I could visit other parallel universes by passing through limbo. That's where you two come in," he said pointing to No.1 and Holly.

Holly hesitated. She hated breaking Artemis' bubble, not when he looked so excited and enthusiastic. "Arty," she said softly, "that's very complex magic. I hope you haven't forgotten that it took a circle of demons to get into limbo, and that is not a feat for an elf and an apprentice demon.

"No offense, No. 1," she added.

No. 1 nodded. "None taken. And even if we do agree to your request Arty, we really don't think that the Council would approve."

Artemis sighed, "You should've thought that I wouldn't have invited you here if I haven't covered your concerns already. I have the Council's complete support, and as for the complex magic, that would be handled by the algorithms."

Holly opened her mouth in awe. "How on earth did you get the Council's full support?"

"Tut tut, Holly, I don't like that tone. I simply had my influences over them, namely, gold."

Holly was not impressed. "And what about the complex magic part?" she said, her arms crossed.

This time, It was Foaly's turn to explain. "Much as a program is composed of codes, Artemis believes that it is the same for the universe. And he showed me his proof." Then the clicking of a keyboard was heard as Foaly looked something up in his computer. His face was now replaced by a massive jumble of numerical codes and patterns, none of which Holly could understand.

With her arms still crossed, Holly was disbelieving as ever. "Okay, let's say that all of Artemis' presumptions are correct and true, but how were you even able to decode the universe?"

Artemis sat down on an armchair, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. There was a moment of silence before he decided to speak. "When I was fleeting around as a spirit on the place where I died and where the Gate was sealed, I saw a disturbance in the air." He stood up and resumed in pacing. "Curiosity killed the cat, they say, but in this instance, curiosity merely got stronger, but never did kill the cat. The disturbance was more of like a portal, and well," he shifted a tad uncomfortable, "I pushed my hand through it."

No. 1 gasped. He hid his eyes behind his fingers, as if what Artemis said turned him into some terrifying monster. "You shouldn't have done that Arty! "

Holly looked from Artemis to No. 1, irritated of being the only one not knowing anything. "Why shouldn't he have done that, No.1?" she demanded.

No. 1, flustered and all, wrung his hands while speaking. "The disturbance that he described is a broken fragment of time and space. It is very unstable and highly dangerous! You shouldn't have done that, Artemis!" he repeated.

Artemis winced, irritated yet evidently guilty. "Well I already have, No. 1, there's no use in regretting about it now." He straightened his suit jacket, and drew himself up to full height. "Anyway, I pushed my hand through it, and it was as if the portal was decoding me. My hand became nothing but a string of numbers. I did this a couple of times, until I had a portion of it memorized. And after a few trials with my arm and an unlucky flower I was able to grasp in the third universe, I recognized a pattern.

"No matter how unrelated the samples are, there was always a common pattern of numbers among them that I had put through the portal. I memorized the pattern, and even though you restored my past memory, I was able to retain the memory of my time as a spirit. I sent the code to Foaly right away, and we devised a simple yet mind-boggling algorithm.

"With this, we would be able to construct a machine that would create a similar disturbance, a fragment of time and space," he nodded to No. 1, "and therefore be able to travel across universes."


End file.
